The Constitutional Court unanimously rejects Santos Cerdán's appeal to be released from prison.

MadridSetback for Santos Cerdán. The Constitutional Court (TC) has rejected the former Socialist leader's appeal for protection of constitutional rights, which sought the suspension of the pretrial detention he has been serving since June. According to the high court's statement on Monday, the decision was made unanimously by its members at the proposal of the reporting judge, José María Macías Castaño.

The high court considers that the appeal does not have the "special constitutional significance" alleged by the appellant and required by law. The judges also dismissed another part of the claim, which raised issues related to the right to defense of the former organization secretary under investigation by the Supreme Court, considering that the prior judicial life has not been exhausted.

The TC's response comes after Cerdán's defense filed an appeal for protection with the Constitutional Court in July, requesting the Supreme Court to overturn the Supreme Court's decision to keep him in pretrial detention in Soto del Real. According to the representation of attorney Benet Salellas and lawyer Jacobo Teijelo, it was "absolutely imperative" that the Constitutional Court (TC) "precautionarily" annul Cerdán's pretrial detention measure given the importance of the "fundamental rights at stake." The defense specifically invoked the rights to liberty, moral integrity, and the right not to plead guilty. Furthermore, it noted that, under current law, Cerdán could spend, at most, six months in pretrial detention.

Judge Leopoldo Puente, who is investigating him for allegedly plotting a corruption scheme with José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García, sent him to Soto del Real prison on June 30 to prevent him from destroying evidence or influencing witnesses. The former Socialist leader's defense filed an appeal against this decision, but the high court rejected it and upheld the investigative judge's ruling. The defense then decided to go to the Constitutional Court, in an unusual move in the investigation phase, with an appeal for protection and a request for precautionary measures. for suspending pretrial detention.

His defense alleged various reasons for his release. "The undue imposition of pretrial detention entails a flagrant violation of the prohibition against attacking the moral integrity and dignity of the person," they alleged in the appeal, adding that Cerdán's imprisonment concealed "other purposes that are not constitutionally admissible," such as "stifling social unrest," "direct pressure," and "directly obtaining a confession." Arguments that have not served to change the Constitutional Court's position.